Arsenal 1 – 0 Man City: Match Thoughts And Individual Analysis

Even with City’s dodgy away form in recent weeks this game was always going to be a test of Arsenal’s abilities. Was the QPR result a blip or the beginning of yet another slump? On the back of that performance there can be no arguments. The macro-level stats in the following tweet make the case quite clearly.

Arsenal dominated the game and secured a well-deserved win thanks to Mikel Arteta’s thunderbolt. But it wasn’t plain sailing as the stats might suggest.

Arsene brought Benayoun into the starting line-up indicating he is intent on using a technical player in games that are likely to be more challenging. City were without Silva and started with a strange-ish eleven.

Mancini picked Balotelli on the left and Aguero down the middle with Nasri in an advanced midfield role and Milner on the right flank. Toure and Barry were behind them. It’s hard to put any kind of numbers to this as the shapes they took up seemed incoherent, as if they weren’t used to it and didn’t really know what to do.

Arsenal dominated the first quarter of the game. The screen flashed a stat showing 78 percent possession for the Gunners in the 23rd minute. By then Arsenal had also had four shots and a penalty claim. In fairness though, only one was a gilt-edged opportunity that came in the 16th minute when a Van Persie header destined for the goal was cleared off the line by Vermaelen.

After the midway point though, City got back into the game and it was fairly even. Balotelli had a good chance from a corner that was blocked. The Gunners didn’t create any more chances in the half.

Yaya Toure’s injury and Pizarro’s introduction coincided to an extent with a change in City’s fortunes but I don’t think it was the cause of the change in the game. Some other factors seemed more relevant.

Firstly, Arsenal came off the blocks with a very high tempo and pinned the visitors back through incessant pressing high up the pitch. This was hard to sustain and the hosts eased off midway through the half. This gave the Blues a better chance to bring the ball out from the back.

Secondly, after Yaya went off, Mancini shifted Nasri to the flank and brought Milner into a central role. The former Arsenal man was chasing the ball energetically but was reactive and didn’t quite do a job as the first line of defence. Milner showed better defensive awareness.

Thirdly, Toure wasn’t having a very good game defensively either as was evidenced by his early booking that was picked up when Rosicky turned him with ease in the 2nd minute. His injury didn’t help either and it was as if City were playing with 10 men.

Finally, Balotelli – having survived numerous punishable offences including a horrendous straight red tackle – pushed up the pitch and City started looking for a diagonals and other passes in his direction which pinned Sagna back.

City started the second half brightly and had a decent spell early on. Their best chance came in the 53rd minute when Nasri’s chip into the box was headed towards goal by Aguero. It’s quite possible the striker was put off by his own man as Zabaleta too attacked the same ball.

Gibbs then went off, presumably due to another injury, as the visitors continued their forward push. Santos’ first involvement was a hoofed clearance before Benayoun made a sliding block. The Brazilian then picked up a booking for hauling Balotelli to the ground.

Arsenal started getting back into the game around the hour mark. Benayoun produced a swerving run from the left but his strike lacked venom and went straight at Hart. A couple of minutes later Van Persie evaded the attentions of Kompany and found himself in space near the penalty spot. Song’s chip was delightful as ever but De Kapitein was unlucky as his header only found the post. Hart was stranded.

In the next few minutes both sides had some half-chances as the game remained a cagey affair.

The final 20 minutes were all Arsenal as the Gunners once again switched to a higher gear. This is usually the time they pin the opponents back and find a late winner. But occasionally it’s also the period when they concede the sucker punch. In this game, City faded away and never looked like scoring on the break.

In the 76th minute Arsenal had a number of chances within moments. Sagna’s clever square pass found Walcott in the box. Theo’s cute flick was goal-bound but Hart tipped it onto the post with his fingertips. Vermaelen couldn’t find the open net from the rebound. His scuffed effort came straight at Benayoun who missed from two yards. Some must surely have felt Arsenal had blown their chance away but with this team you can be sure they’ll keep going.

Mancini tried to make something happen by bringing Kolarov on for Nasri. This gave the visitors better protection down the left and Balotelli had more joy down Arsenal’s left. It made you wonder why was he playing against Sagna all this while in the first place?! The City boss also introduced Tevez for Aguero, which was another surprising move given the fact that Balotelli was walking a tightrope.

The goal when it came was a bit out of the blue. Barry tried to play the ball out under pressure by chipping it towards Pizzaro. The Italian wasn’t able to control it as Arteta won the duel. This opened space up for the Spaniard and he let fly adroitly. His placement was impeccable, his technique sublime. The Gunners needed something above and beyond the quality they’d already produced. This goal certainly was an exceptional, decisive individual moment.

Arsenal then held on with ease and could have added another in injury time. Ramsey’s recent form woes probably weighed on his mind as he missed the chance to pick a teammate or hit the target when well-placed.

Balotelli finally did see red after his second booking and if he doesn’t play again this season it might actually work in City’s favour.

Individual Performances:

Szczesny: Had to ensure Aguero’s header wasn’t dipping in but didn’t have to make any other saves in the whole game. Had one or two iffy moments with his distribution in an otherwise comfortable outing. Snuffed a dangerous moment in a timely manner by charging out and clearing.

Sagna: Had a lot of space on the right as Balotelli didn’t track back well enough. Attempted the most crosses, 13 – more than any two other Gunners combined – but didn’t find a teammate with all but one. It was more of an issue with Arsenal having fewer bodies in the box than the quality of crossing. Did create a good chance for Theo that led to the succession of chances. Also saw a lot of the ball and was involved in the most duels, which made this another battling display from the Frenchman.

Koscielny: Picked up a booking and will miss the next two games but had a good game other than that. Was almost always in the right positions and used his strengths well. Decision making was spot on – dueled when he had to, cleared the ball when there was risk, and showed composure when needed. There was one moment when his decision making failed and Balotelli got in behind, but Szczesny bailed him out by coming out and clearing the danger.

Vermaelen: Got the dubious distinction of blocking his captain from scoring, pulling a bendtner some might say, but overall it was a very effective defensive effort from the Belgian. Didn’t get on the ball as often as he usually does but put in a focused shift at the back by limiting his forward bursts. Won all 4 of his tackles and 6 of his 9 ground duels while making 4 interceptions.

Gibbs: Saw a lot of the ball in the time that he was on the pitch as Arsenal made much better use of the left flank than they’ve done in many recent games. Had very little to do defensively and played more than a third of his passes in the final third.

Santos: Had a tough start against Balotelli but found it easier after the Gunners regained control of the game and pushed forward. Didn’t look completely match fit.

The Arsenal back five had a relatively comfortable game. They curbed their attacking instincts and stuck to a plan. Aguero’s inability to trouble them in the air, Balotelli’s petulance, Silva’s absence, and City’s generally chaotic play helped their cause.

Song: It was a physically combative and dominant effort from the Cameroonian as he was involved in 18 ground duels, of which he won 11, and 4 aerial duels (all successful). Was lucky to survive a horror tackle from Balotelli. Created a quality chance for RvP but was also very wasteful or overambitious with some of his passing.

Arteta: Again had the most touches and most passes as he kept the ball moving. Put in an intelligent defensive shift characterized by his team-high 5 interceptions. Whipped in a number of quality balls from set-pieces. Capped it with the match-winning strike.

Rosicky: Was extremely influential in patches but also went out of the game in patches. Made most of his passes in the final third including the impressive dink over the top that led to the penalty shout. Another one who did well in his duels and wasn’t overawed physically.

In recent years the Arsenal midfield was criticized for its lack of physicality but these three players dominated what was arguably a weak opposing midfield that also lacked tactical clarity. It shouldn’t take anything away from their efforts which were, er, central to Arsenal’s control and ultimately the result.

Walcott: The first half was a struggle for Theo as he couldn’t get into meaningful spaces. Had one good attempt in the second period but more is needed.

RvP: Van Persie was unlucky with a couple of delightful headers. Work rate was again superb and helped out as an extra midfielder through his movement and passing.

Benayoun: Did well to bring the left side into play more often. I thought he was given a more conservative role, especially early on as he helped sustain the pressure but didn’t venture forward quite as much. This was reflected by the fact that he attempted more backward passes than forward ones and very few into the box. Also contributed defensively by winning 3 of his 4 tackles and 6 of his 10 duels. Did get into shooting positions thrice but couldn’t make it count.

I thought the front three were not that effective partly because Arsenal had a cautious approach despite the apparent dominance. This meant they didn’t push too many bodies into the box even when a wide player had a good crossing opportunity. It paid off as City rarely got a chance to break at pace. On the whole this wasn’t a glamorous-looking night for the attacking players but one that focussed on efficiency and working for the team.

Subs: Ramsey will be probably be vilified by many for his miss but he needs support more than narrow-minded abuse. Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t have much time.

Wenger: I thought Arsene found the perfect mixture of cautious but aggressive play. Going gung-ho could have been suicidal while an overly cautious approach could easily have led to nervousness and mistakes at the back. In contrast to City, Arsenal seemed to have tactical clarity throughout this game and the manager deserves credit for that.

Share:

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 7:32 am and is filed under Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Post navigation

Agree with all of your analysis. Why would Mancini choose to attack Arsenal’s stronger right side with Balotelli? For a team trying to stay in the title hunt, I can only construe that as a highly negative tactic. Remember, Arsene put on 4 strikers against Milan. Man City never showed that intent yesterday and deservedly got nothing.

Nice write up desi! And wow!!! What a team performance!! You know what excites me the most desi, ….. Nasri! He is such. F** cunt!! His game levels have so much dropped, on this showing does’nt deserve τ̲̅ȍ be at Euroes with the french! and was excited with stick he got from fans & Piers Morgan on twitter later in evening! Back τ̲̅ȍ game, Alex Song and Bacry Sagna were the stand out performers, sagna like u pointed put in 13 quality crosses despite all the negative attention from Balotelli, 3rd place is there for the taking, Ϟ•̸ξ have τ̲̅ȍ keep the momentum going and finish season well, keep sprit high, get RVP τ̲̅ȍ sign a new deal, and get in Podolski, and 2 other signing’s , Arsene truly does know best #COYG

Na$ri’s performance was just about what we could expect. Remember last season he only contributed in the first half of the campaign. When Cesc went down, and he could have stepped up, he gave too many performances just like yesterday.
The man who now wears our number 8 is a much better player, and a quality team player and professional.
Not surprised at all!

what a game desi,i enjoyed the whole game. We were unlucky most parts of the game because we could not get into the knick of things,but the all team perfomed well with th e exceptions of the wingers who took a conservative approach. And i hope people dont slate Ramsey for his miss,as you noted he needs support more than anything else, lets take the positives and support the players who needs support,he will come good one day but he has got to go on loan for a full season
On matters unrelated to arsenal,i think players such as Balloteli has cost city the tittle. You can imagine what such a player does to the team spirit. To me he is an absolute disgrace and would not welcome hi to arsenal even for free.

He has tolerated Tevez and Balotelli where as someone like Red Nose would have told them to pack their bags.

Or not have signed them in the first place.

any wonder what state the dressing room is at City when Balotelli was ‘rolling’ around on the pitch just before half time and the rest of his teammates played on. And when the whistle blew, they just filed passed him without a bother.

If RVP refused to sign for us, it is because we have the biggest weaklink call Ramilson. Selfish, unskillful, not promising and no future. Only his age con people into believing that he would improve. Fark him.

You can always tell a true supporter when he starts calling our own players names. Not. Idiot. Didn’t you read the article?

Bet you were one of those who said that Song wasn’t fit to wear the shirt. And that we have to get rid of Rosicky. Now it’s Ramsey’s turn to be picked on by the Arsenal unfaithful. He will prove you lot all wrong.

If anything the miss says we need to give ramsey even more time. Even players of championship quality would have finished that one. Which only means its confidence thing and not of ability. Remember the finish against man utd on his return? Just look at torres and you know how imp confidence is. I dont think Arteta who i grant has natural technique was as good as he is right now when he was ramsey’s age. Ramsey needs to buy time and earn his place in the starting 11. TIll then just let the boy be.

Just feel I should point out that both Vermaelen and benny also missed sitters from closer in.

Granted Chambo was on for slightly shorter but I don’t remember him being quite as effective getting into such a dangerous position as Ramsey who did well to break quiclkly and then trick the defender to create his shooting opportunity.

I think he delayed a fraction too long and should have shot with power at near post.

Confidence is clearly an issue.

Otherwise, I’m not sure what else you want to expect from a player who is only 21.

Again, great writing as the won we had!! Agree with most of the points, but the only one leave me confused, I think City leave us so many space on our right flank intently because we only got VPS to header, and few bodies in the box, Beyeaean, Rosicky, both are not good at header. However, we saw many times sagna still attempt to deliver some cross. Why dun take VPS to draw City’s defence out, and let Theo cut into the middle and create some spark??

The decision to play Yossi on the left flank was spot on. Wenger did well yesterday with is tactics, fans need to commend him on how he turned our season around because I never thought of the team making the 5th position. My only concern now is that Kosielny missing two matches. This is a nice analysis from you.

The best team won and should have won by more, if was not for Joe Hart and our defenders clearing their lines. Man City where awful and in my opinion their more attacking approach for this season has been found out and Mancini has no plan B accept to back to his Italian defensively negative approach. Arsene got the tactics and approach to the game right.

Bar Arteta goal there was nothing different between two fixtures in the league from last season and this at the Emirates. We where by far the better team on the day. Now Wenger just has back himself in the transfer market and sign top players and we will easily finish above City next season, especially if they keep Mancini.

What a relief this win was! more than made up for the QPR slip. I hope the team wins all the rest of the matches, including the one against Chelsea. Next up Wolves, time for repeat for the last season’s 2-0 win.

Ramsy is not good enough for Arsenal, Y does Wenger persist with him, AOC deserves to get the nod ahead of Ramsy, do u think ramsy will make the starting 11 of any of the top teams in the world? NO…. So Y does he make our team, we are one of the best in the world, he is not a bad player, he is just not good enough for Arsenal,,, I think the OX will give us that killer spark, he is direct and fast and can actually beat a defender with his skill… We need to give this kid a few starts, or else we gna gill his hunger by giving useless players a start before him,

Its like ramsey dnt wnt rvp 2 score…. He was nfin buh a fool 4 doin wat he did……. If he had scored no 1 would say nfin bad abou him bt ramsey would neva learn. Even if we were a goal down, ramsey wil olways b selfish. Nd dats wat took him out of d 1st eleven. He does nt dserv d arsnal jersey

We definitely deserved this win over a clueless ManC side without its leaders – Silva & YayaT. I think the one goal victory helped gloss over many flaws still visible in this gunner lineup. Szzzy’s distribution was awful. But for his goal, I thought MikArt had a poor game and was slowing down the pace considerably with one touch too many. Also he has the strange habit of always taking the ball and turning towards his own goal and invariably passing side or backwards. Last night he got numerous chances where he could’ve pushed forward into space.. la Rosky .. but chose to play the ball back to TV or Kos. Yesterday he showed again what a great shot he has, would be extremely useful just outside the opposition box but Arsenal rarely have enough bodies in and around the box to meet the crosses from the wings. Left midfield is still unresolved. YosBen is not the answer as he clearly demonstrated – too light weight and his miss was worse than Ramsey’s who gave the fans’ another chance to have a go at him. Wasn’t expecting such a poor and aimless performance from a title chasing side in a must win game. Is this what ‘to implode’ means ? A lot of credit should go to the gunners’ incredible pressing high up the field. Our best defender to miss two matches – hope JoDjo up for it. We’ve lost to blackburn and QPR and doyle n co could be dangerous if we switch off as we’re prone to do.

I dont want to focus on the negatives, but despite desi saying arsenal were a bit cautious, I think someone with an eye for a pass would have created something from open play in the first half. I just went back and looked at all the matches we won in the last 2 months and feel we dont have that to make the difference in such a game. Rozza’s my fav player but he is been the ‘pre’ assist guy and gets invloved a lot in the build up but has tended to over hit the final ball/found the defenders feet on many occasions. I’m not complaining, we are ok with this midfield as long as our front take the responsibilty of ‘assisting’ , but that doesnt work when theo is against a defender who is as quick as he is.

Thats for another day, cant complain about the performance or the result. We had a similar one at old trafford where we over ran utd int he midfield and adebayor scored late courtesy fab. This was as controlled as they get, city didnt create many chances which is down to Arsene and his tactics(and city were really bad). Benayoun as been nothing but professional whenever he has come on. Desi calls it as a technical midfielder, which too an extent is true , we have played hleb and rosicky there in yester years, but benny prolly put in a much better defensive effort than any of them, like Kuyt for liverpool. In games like these, its ok to do that, knowing city have to win.

I just wish to see Mikart make more telling n forward passes. I think he has the technique and wherewithall to do that. Maybe DesiG can provide us the stats on the number of sideways n backward passes he makes during a game. Despite all the high pressing n possession we enjoyed, did we really test Hart ? As it is the citizens were like a cloud without its silva lining … aimlessly drifting through the game. As i write, canaries have beaten the pretenders in a pulsating match at the bin. All the cards are in the gunners’ hands now. Its ours to make or break !!

@FinnGunn,
You are so right. Those poor fools who came out of the woodwork against Denilson, Squillaci and Chamakh, are now turning their bile on Ramsey. He came on for just over 10 minutes, not over confident at the moment, played OK except for a poor decision to go it alone instead of passing. He hadn’t got enough playing time for that to succeed. At least he tried a shot which many of us complain is in short supply in and around the box.
He’ll come good, never fear but he’s still learning.
Have faith.

I remember your pre-match analysis mentioned the technical left sided player and I didn’t even think of Benayoun but he was the perfect choice in the end. I hope Benayoun stays because he puts in a superb defensive shift for a winger and helps so much in games like this. I’m not saying that he was the best player, it’d be between Arteta, Song and Koscielny for me, but he did make the difference in midfield by working incredibly hard at closing the City players down when you wouldn’t normally get that from your wide men.

@Meaner,
Your viewpoint would be better respected if (a) you could spell and (b) you refrained from obscenities.
The players you criticise were signed and selected to play by Arsene Wenger who knows more about football than the rest of us put together.
They are merely trying to earn a living at the sport at which they are professionals and deserve 100% support from all true Arsenal fans…..I can see you are clearly not one of this select band.

I used to have a pop at Arsenal on another site. But fair play to you. City was never in the hunt today, as they haven’t been for the last month. I like the way you played the 4-3-3/4-5-1 format with wide players. Our system was supposed to be the same but with nobody out wide and everybody shoe-horned into midfield. As you said, incoherent, strange and to me inexplicable. The match at the Etihad was a superb advert for attacking football from both teams. At the Emirates, City simply surrendered.

What’s surprising is hearing the likes of Lee Dixon (and I still have a lot of time for him) being apologetic (like some posters here) over Arsenal’s performance by highlighting City’s sudden weaknesses.

I don’t remember any of these pundits or amateurs listing City’s weaknesses at such length not a month ago when they were still ‘undeniably’ favorites to win the league.

The only differance between City and United is that United are forged into a common purpose by the gaffer with the most powerful hairdryer in the world where as City are a collection of (some Talented individuals that will not galvanise when the going gets tough (unlike say Arsenal)

Ask yourself woudl Sir Alex allow tevesz a lengthy sabatical and to come back into the team or put up with Balotelli’s clown acts?

he wouldn’t have signed them in the first place.

And therein liees the differnace. It’s not a question of tactics or formations. You could have Silva on the pitch and you would have gotten the same result becauyse Mancini puts player’s whims and fancies over that of the team goal.

We were hungrier andd more up for it form the get go. City were second best to the ball even with Toure on the field.

evert one makes mistakes. Tevez used to play for united so he did sign him. But you are righ, he will never tolerate that. We had a similar pbm with gallas at the business end of the season and it cost us.

I think it’s understandable for the fans for criticizing Ramsey.. Ramsey is one of those players who has more playing times.. He almost started in every game,up till his injury recently,at least. But in spite of that fact,i thought he has,in general,contributed just very little.. He’s poor thus far,to be completely honest. I thought Wenger has given him more than enough time on the pitch,and of course the fans are expecting much more from him. The same can’t be said for Rosicky.. Rosicky has never been given a run of matches he needed after his injury.. seldom did he play on the centre,too.. Now,people are just loving him.. Ramsey case is much more like Denilson’s. Wenger insists on playing them regardless of their display.The same can’t be said for Squilacci n Chamakh. They sit on the bench because there’re other better players.The same can’t be said for Ramsey. That is why Ramsey makes the majority of fans frustrated. I thought he needs to be loaned out? what do you think? will he be a regular starter at newcastle? i doubt it.. or maybe Bolton?? hm.. maybe yes,maybe no.

You put a player on and expect him to make split second decisions. He made the right one IMO to shoot. How many times ahve we seen our players over elaborate instead of taking a shot at an opening to goal???

Point exactly the winning Arteta goal.

I was just pointing outto my friend (a United supporter) that we needed to shoot more particularly when driving in toward the box and with City flagging. It’ ssomething you’d come to expect United to do with Scholes or Rooney.

And Arteta duly obliged.

Now if Ramsey had passed the ball to RVP and RVP had lost the ball to Kompany, I’d expect you to put the balme on the lad for over passing.

english is not my language, i don need it that much but thanks for following my comment and concern about my english, but still, i would like to tell you, when you have nothing to talk about football, no point commenting on others’ english, that show how little you are but surely you are a big mother farker thats for sure lol.. yeah yeah you fully deserve it.

@Santori,
Thanks for your support in sorting out Meaner. True Gooners simply have to stand together in order to oppose creeps who use the internet to spout AAA rubbish and obscenity…..without understanding what they are saying. I hope he now clears off to support another team. 😆